Don't Change
by PokemonLuverWulf
Summary: Nepeta wants to change for what she thinks is the better. Karkat has other ideas. KatNep, rated T for fighting and Karkat's mouth


**PLW: Hello peoples! So this is a Homestuck oneshot I had in my head after listening to "Flying High" by DJ Splash, and a remix of "Runaway" by Groove Coverage. And it's a KatNep fanfic, because they are one of my many OTPs in Homestuck. **

**Yes, I can have more than one. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing in this, all characters belong to Andrew Hussie. **

^.v.^

Karkat stopped, and bent over, breathing so hard he thought he was going to retch. Looking at the vast expanse of forest ahead of him, he swore.

"Dammit, Nepeta. Why did you run off like that?"

The troll's mind wavered back to almost an hour ago, when Equius had asked Karkat if he had seen Nepeta. When both of them hadn't, they went up to her room to find the door locked.

_Equius kicked the door down, and carefully set it aside. The two male trolls entered in. _

_Nepeta's room was surprisingly neat, with a few drawings on the floor and the rest on the walls or in piles. However, her hat, the one that looked like a blue cat face, was on the floor. No big deal, she sometimes took it off when she got hot. _

_Her tail, which Karkat had always thought was actually attached to her butt, was also on the floor. That was a small cause for alarm._

_Then the olive green, long trenchcoat that Nepeta was never seen without, was also on the floor. Alarm bells were now going off in Karkat's thinkpan. _

_"Um, Karkat?" Equius said. The Cancer looked up from the floor to see the Leo's window wide open, with a small peice of paper taped to it and fluttering in the draft. The Sagittarus carefully tore it off. Written on it, in Nepeta's small, green handwriting, was simply "I can prove my worth." _

_The two trolls looked at each other. Without warning, Karkat had his sickle in hand, and leaped out the window. _

_"Where are you going?"_

_"To find Nepeta!" _

Karkat picked up the pace once again. As he got closer to the cliff face at the far end of the woods from the expansive hive all the trolls shared, he began to see signs of struggles. Claw marks, broken branches, and occasionally, olive green blood. Bits of colorful cloth were also in these areas.

Karkat stopped, and bent down. Small, so small that they were a little hard to see, were curly black hairs. He picked them up, and ran his thumb over them.

"I'm getting close," he murmured.

A loud sound, a cross between a cat's yowl and a high-pitched shriek, echoed through the woods. Karkat practically flew through the woods.

"Nepeta!"

^.v.^

Nepeta struggled to get up, her vision swimming. Something warm and sticky was running into her face, and the area above her left eye stung. Even with blood in her eyes, the Leo could still see the mob of ogres and imps.

It had been okay at first, easily subduing small imps, then larger ones, then a single ogre. That had been when they attacked alone. Now, it was a mob, and Nepeta was trapped.

There were at least three ogres, and dozens of imps. One of the ogres had picked her up by one leg, swung her around, then thrown her into the rock wall, face first. Her nose was bleeding from the collison, and her wounds, both old and new, hurt from the fresh pain.

Attempting to stand up, Nepeta cried out when her leg, sore and weeping, buckled beneath her. She was too weak, and she knew it. She had always known it, and everyone else did too.

She closed her eyes, a few tears leaking through. "I'm so sorry, Equius," she began, apologizing to her moirail.

"I'm so sorry, Karkitty."

"NEPETAAA!"

The Leo opened her eyes to see someone standing in front of her. Was it Equius? No, his horns were too small, and he was too skinny.

"Karkitty?"

Karkat swung again, his eyes blazing with fury. After bursting out of the woods, he had seen a crumpled figure at the base of the cliff, surrounded by hundreds of imps and ogres. A need to protect her had come over him, and now, he was going to.

He swung, roaring, going through the crowd like a crazed axe murderer. Imps fell left and right.

He had just finished off one ogre, when a shadow fell across him. He turned to see a gigantic hand coming to crush him.

It never got the chance.

The ogre moaned and fell. Nepeta shakily stood behind it, having taken out both its knees. The thing turned quickly and backhanded her across the face, sending her flying.

Then its head fell to the ground, before, like it's bretheren, it burst into grist and oil. Karkat ignored the spoils, and ran over to Nepeta, picking her up.

"Nep? Oh gog, say something!"

All the Leo could muster was a groan. Her eyelids fluttered open, seeing a very worried Karkat.

"Kar...kitty?"

"Why? Why did you fucking run, Nepeta?! And what was with the-"

The Cancer, in a fit of rage and worry, was cut off by small hands gripping his shirt, and the small troll burying her face in his shoulder, crying and shaking from fear and relief. Bewildered for a moment, he then began to rub her back, shooshing her, trying to soothe her.

After almost an hour, Nepeta's sobs subsided, and she looked at Karkat, who was supposedly less angry and more calm.

"Why did you run Nepeta? What was the reason behind 'I can prove my worth'?"

"I.." Nepeta looked down, and mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that?"

"I said I wanted to show that I'm not weak."

Karkat looked at her quizzically. "Nep, you're not-"

"Yes I am!" Nepeta yowled. "I am weak, and everyone knows it! I can't beat anyone in battle, I'm probably the only one who hasn't managed to become God Tier yet, and when I went against Gamzee, I only got three cuts across his face before he beat me to death! And they weren't even deep!"

The troll was shaking from the force of her outburst. Karkat was stunned.

Then he hugged her to his chest. Nepeta blushed, then went an even deeper shade of green when Karkat rested his chin on her head.

"Then everyone can go suck a fucking egg."

Nepeta pulled away to look at Karkat's face. His look was gentle, someting no one ever saw on occasion.

"Yeah, you're not the best fighter, but that doesn't mean only that makes you weak. Maybe you don't need to be the best fighter. You manage to make everyone laugh, you listen to problems, you care for everyone and accept them for who they are, and are so fucking sweet, you even forgave Gamzee for killing you when we ressurected you! You're not strong when it comes to brawns, but you are strong in emotions. And really, that's all you need for your God Tier. You're the fucking Rouge of Heart."

Nepeta snuggled back into Karkat as he continued, stroking her hair.

"You're full of emotions, while I'm shit with those. You can comfort practically everybody, while I'm stuck with the fucking clown. You've got an incredible amount of imagination in your thinkpan, while mine is fucking dry as shit."

He pulled her out. Their faces were so close...

"Maybe that's why I'm so fucking flushed for you."

Nepeta closed her eyes as Karkat pulled her into a soft kiss. This was it. This was her dream come true. Her otp was finally real.

The kiss didn't last long, but when it was over, Karkat picked her up, carrying her bridal style.

"Um. Karkitty, what are mew doing?"

"Brining you to the lake so I can clean you up, duh."

After a little bit, Nepeta dozed off, coming to when Karkat put her down, propping her against a rock near the water's edge. He walked over, and pulled a small square of fabric out of his Sylladex. Nepeta recognized it from the small red Cancer symbols embroidered on it. She had made that for him once.

After getting it wet, Karkat walked back over to Nepeta. Pulling a first aid kit out of his Sylladex as well, he began to wipe Nepeta's face off, making sure to be careful with the gash over her eye. After he had cleaned the dirt out of it, which made it bleed again, he bandaged it.

Soon, Nepeta was bandaged up, and not as dirty as before. Karkat's handkerchief, however, was now stained green.

The Cancer turned around, offering his back to the Leo, who clambered on. He stood up, and began to trek back to the hive. Nepeta burrowed her face into the spot between Karkat's neck and shoulder.

"Karkitty?"

"Mm?"

"Thank you."

The tiniest of smiles graced Karkat's face.

**PLW: Aaaand, DONE! In less than a day! I'm a speed demon!**

**So please review! And if you think I should write more oneshots featuring my other OTP's, gimmie your opinion!**


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